Written by

Jennifer Justus | The Tennessean

ABOUT THE SERIES

Cooking is nothing to be afraid of! It's easier and cheaper than you would imagine, and more healthy than eating out or buying prepared foods. In our Nashville Cooks series, we visit the home of one family each month who will teach us how to prepare a traditional family meal that’s healthful, inexpensive, easy and made from scratch. At each session, we put a meal on the table, but we also reconnect with the fun of cooking.

Part 16: Alba Gonzalez-Nylander and Loraine Segovia-Paz

More

ADVERTISEMENT

Walk into the Brentwood home of Alba Gonzalez-Nylander, and she’ll hand you a glass of coconut water, bits of sweet pulp floating among the ice cubes.

It comes from a can, like so many brands of coconut water readily available at grocery stores these days, but Alba still remembers when her grandmother would put her to the task of draining and scooping out the flesh from fresh coconuts after she warmed them over the stove.

It was a regular occurrence in the kitchen, much like on a recent Monday when Alba peeled and sliced plantains for a torta or cake.

“For 25 years, when I lived in my country of Venezuela, I had plantains every day,” she said.

For our Nashville Cooks series, Alba invited us to her home, along with Loraine Segovia-Paz, who grew up in Bolivia. The women met about three years ago through the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and though their countries and cooking styles differ, they have no trouble finding common ground.

“We eat very often together,” Loraine said.

Same, and different

After Alba softened her plantains in a pot of boiling water, she mashed them into a blend of sherry, raisins and cinnamon.

Meanwhile, Loraine breaded thin steaks with panko breadcrumbs and tended to a stew of potatoes, carrots, onions and peas, spicy with cumin and chili paste.

Loraine’s dish — the meat served with stew on top and potatoes alongside — is called Falso Conejo, which translates to Faux Rabbit. Though it’s commonly made in Bolivia, it’s no longer commonly made with rabbit.

Alba’s torta — warm from the oven and slightly sweet — would be served for dessert. And so, as they worked, they offered a stream of knowledge about food in their home countries.

“Even in the same country, we have many different types of flavors,” Alba said, explaining how the geographic regions of Venezuela affect the foods eaten. The coast has Caribbean influence with dishes of fish and fruits, while in the mountains it’s more about potatoes and meats.

In Bolivia, Loraine added that the cuisine tends to have more hot pepper than that of Venezuela, and the country has more than 3,000 varieties of potatoes. As a side dish, Loraine also prepared a pot of quinoa blended with milk, egg and cheese.

“The Incas thought that this was the greatest vegetable because of the quality of the protein,” she said.

While quinoa has gained popularity in the United States in recent years, it wasn’t always so easy to find. Loraine would have to hunt it down in ethnic markets.

“I didn’t appreciate it until I came here,” she said. “You miss things that are very important.”

Alba had never tasted it.

“Is it like cous cous?” she asked.

“Much, much better” Loraine said.

Family traditions

But despite any differences among regions, countries or continents, similarities in food often remain.

Both of the women, for example, learned to cook at an early age from family by watching and working in the kitchen and by picking up tips intuitively. Many of the lessons were similar, too, such as learning not to waste.

“We use all of what people tend not to eat,” Loraine said, noting that tripe and sausage made with the blood of the animal are enjoyed both in Venezuela and Bolivia.

Both women were also taught about the important properties of ingredients as they learned to cook with them. “What is the benefit that you’re going to obtain … like cinnamon is a powerful anti-inflammatory,” Loraine said.

And both women have an emotional appreciation for cooking.

“Cooking relaxes you,” Loraine said.

“You use it as a time for yourself,” Alba added. “It helps you to think. You’re creating something.”

And finally, both women, through their travels, have learned to stay open to foods they experience while still keeping a place in their repertoire for tradition.

“I love all kinds of foods,” Alba said.

While in school at the University of California at Los Angeles, Alba had an Iranian teacher who encouraged immigrant students to practice speaking English with one another.

“We were going to each others’ houses, and with our broken English, we were eating and talking about our different cultures. I think it was the best time of my life — everybody sharing what they can give.”

Alba, who works in video production, and Loraine, who runs Hispanic newspaper La Noticia, have made full lives for themselves in the United States. And though they live far from their home countries, cooking still helps take them back.

“When I crave, I cook,” Loraine said. “We can preserve our heritage and share it with others, too.”